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Angels-Yankees matchup: Manager

Angels-Yankees matchup: Manager

By Jordan Bastian
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MLB.com |

Heading into the American League Championship Series between the Yankees and Angels, beginning Friday at 7:57 p.m. ET on FOX, MLB.com looks at the position-by-position matchups and dissects which team has the advantage.

Mike Scioscia, Angels

Since Scioscia assumed the Angels' managerial duties ten seasons ago, the organization has become a regular participant on the October stage.

On Scioscia's watch this year, Los Angeles notched 97 victories en route to its third consecutive American League West crown. The Angels have won their division in five of the past six seasons and have played in the postseason in six of the last eight years.

Through all that sucess, though, L.A. has not tasted World Series glory since winning it all in 2002.

Under the 50-year-old Scioscia, who is the longest tenured manager in the AL, the Angels have posted a 900-720 record. In defeating the San Francisco Giants in the '02 Fall Classic, Scioscia became just the 17th person to win a World Series first as a player and then as a manager.

Prior to managing, Scioscia spent 13 seasons on the other side of Los Angeles, serving as a catcher for the Dodgers. Scioscia -- a first-round pick by the Dodgers in the 1976 Draft -- was named to two All-Star teams as a player and captured World Series titles with the Dodgers in 1981 and '88.

As a manager, Scioscia has become the Angels' all-time leader in wins and games managed. After a 15-year absence from the postseason, the Angels won a franchise-record 99 wins during their magical run in 2002. L.A. set a new club mark with 100 victories in 2008.

Joe Girardi, Yankees

Girardi is making his first foray into the postseason in his second season as Yankees manager.

After leading the Yankees to 89 wins and a third-place finish in his first season as manager, he helped the Yankees win 103 games in 2009, their highest total since 2002. The Yankees were in first place for 90 days during the season, including the final 77.

It was the first time that Girardi, who managed the Marlins to a 78-84 record in 2006 but was dismissed despite being only the third person to be named Manager of the Year in his first season, had a team in first place at any point during a season.

Girardi did a nice job managing the Yankees' pitching staff, keeping closer Mariano Rivera strong for the stretch drive and incorporating Phil Hughes, Phil Coke and David Robertson into the mix.

Like the man who will sit in the dugout opposite him in the ALCS, Girardi is a former catcher. Drafted by the Cubs, he also played for the Rockies, Yankees and Cardinals.

He won three World Series titles while with the Yankees from 1996-99. He also has the distinction of having caught both Dwight Gooden's no-hitter in 1996 and David Cone's perfect game in 1999.

Though he had never managed in the postseason before ALDS, he does have the most postseason playing experience (39 games) of any manager in the AL.

Girardi, 44, is the second-youngest manager in the big leagues behind the D-backs' A.J. Hinch.

EDGE: Angels

Jordan Bastian is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.